Bret Hart Tells the World Whether he will be at WrestleMania Once and For All

Although never officially announced, WWE has been leading fans to believe that Bret Hart may show up at WrestleMania 22 on April 2, possibly to interfere with Vince and Shawn Michaels' match.

I have been saying for weeks that Bret would NOT be involved in a storyline at WrestleMania but I have pondered whether he would show up on stage during the line up when all the Hall of Fame inductees are announced and shown.

Bret has cleared up whether he will be at WrestleMania in no uncertain terms.

In a very interesting interview in the Calgary Sun Newspaper, Bret Hart has said he will not be at WrestleMania at all and has a flight scheduled to leave Chicago on Sunday morning, hours before WrestleMania even begins.

He went even further saying that he would walk out of the Hall of Fame ceremony if he saw Shawn Michaels there. "I've basically told them that if I see Shawn, I'll get back in a cab and go straight to the airport. They'll have to get him to do my induction speech. I just feel that there's too much anger for me. Too combustible," Bret told the newspaper.

Hart also acknowledges that some fans feel he sold out by accepting the induction into the WWE Hall of Fame considering the bad blood between Bret and WWE (Namely against Vince McMahon and Shawn Michaels). Bret defended his decision to accept the induction saying, "I know there are people that feel I sold out, but I don't see it that way. I feel I have a right to be remembered."

Bret said that Vince McMahon has been trying desperately to get him to appear at WrestleMania in some form, even going so far as to send him a contract to sign, He has declined payment for appearing at the Hall of Fame and said he refuses to sign any contracts with WWE.

"I just wouldn't want anyone to think I have finally got in bed with them enough that I can accept what they did to me. At this point, I'm set to fly out of Chicago early in the morning, before Wrestlemania," he said about why he will not appear at the show.

That appears to answer the questions, "Will Bret Hart be at Wrestlemania?" but still, until the show is over, people will be expecting Bret to show up.

Obviously, the odds are strongly against that.

Bret said, "They're [WWE] going to sit me down and talk to me about all kinds of stuff. But I'm not planning on doing anything more than walk out in front of people at the Hall of Fame. That's my only promise."

As most Hitman fans know, he is a man of his word and isn't one to "work" the fans especially under the circumstances. I can say with 99.9% certainty that Bret won't change his mind and appear on the show although this fan wishes he would, if only to hear the cheers of the fans and to gain closure.

But don't be too discouraged. The last hour of the Hall of Fame ceremony will be airing on the USA network at 11 p.m. April 1. The first two hours of the ceremony will be streamed on the WWE website so you won't have to miss a minute of the show if you have a high speed connection. The last hour will be the induction of Bret and probably the late Eddie Guerrero. Look for most of the roster to be in attendance.

Most, but not all. Shawn Michaels has said publicly in the past that he would skip the ceremony if Bret felt strongly that he should. According to this interview, Bret feels very strongly about Shawn not being present at the ceremony.

Stay tuned for more WrestleMania news and lots of other news coming in a little while.

Meanwhile, let's discuss Bret's decisions in the forum. Do you feel he is right to accept a Hall of Fame induction? Should he show up at WrestleMania? Do you think he will change his mind at the last moment?

Lots to ponder!

Patty

Get Bret Hart's awesome collection of matches, promos, and much more. This is the definitive Bret Hart collection and includes matches from very early in his career, covers his controversial last match in WWE, and much more.